KOTOR: The Jedi Civil War
by Lexington's Hammer
Summary: This story is the back story to my first story KOTOR:Darth Revan Returns and follows the plotline of the first KOTOR game. Please Read & Review!


Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars, even though I am an avid fan of it. Star Wars and KOTOR belong to George Lucas and BIOWARE.

**Chapter 1: A Rude Awakening**

The low, steady roar on the main engines of the _Endar Spire_ thrummed, giving the aging Republic warship the feel of a life of her own. However, if the _Spire_ did have a life it was about to be cut short because as she emerged on the edge of the Taris system four Sith Destroyers suddenly appeared around her, their ruby bolts raining destruction on the unsuspecting ship.

On the _Spire_'s bridge Carth Onasi barely had time to steady himself as the first volley slammed into the ship's unshielded bulk. The veteran fight pilot pulled himself to his feet and quickly began to give orders, "All hands in battle stations, raise all deflectors and return fire." Carth glanced over to the _Spire_'s helmsman, "Can you plot us some type of escape vector Lieutenant?"

Slowly the young the officer nodded, "I think so sir, but the only place we can go is to Taris."

Carth grunted, "Well then let's do it, before we don't even have that choice left to us."

The helmsman nodded, "Yes sir, plotting hyperspace jump now."

Carth sighed and turned to the bridge doors as they opened to reveal a young woman with auburn hair in simple brown robes, "Jedi Bastila it looks like the Sith have taken an interest in our little operation, if you could help that would be greatly appreciated."

The young Jedi shook her head, "Not yet, we must wait for the best time to let the Sith know that I am onboard."

Carth paused as the ship made a small jump into Taris' high orbit, only to reveal four more Sith Destroyers with their fighters swarming out toward the damaged Republic ship. Carth's face became very grim, "I think we are already out of time."

If Bastila replied her words were swallowed by the explosions that started wracking the Republic Cruiser as she came under attack.

**_ENDAR SPIRE_, AFT CREW QUARTERS**

The steady blaring of alarms combined with being suddenly thrown from his bed succeeded in waking Aaron Star from his deep sleep. He glanced around his quarters, quickly checking his surroundings, then a bright flash of light from his quarter's viewport drew his eye to what was going on around him.

As he watched a pair of Sith Fighters blasted past the viewport, strafing the Republic Cruiser with their crimson fire. Beyond the Sith Fighters a pair of Sith Destroyers hung back, letting their fighters do the work of fighting the Republic Cruiser.

Aaron shook his head, _If the Sith aren't even using the capital ships to engaged the _Spire_ then we are in bigger trouble than it looks._ In disgust Aaron turned from the viewport just as the door to his quarters opened to reveal a man in a Republic uniform, with a blonde crew cut.

The man ran over to him and grabbed his shoulder, "Come on, the _Endar Spire_ is under attack from the Sith!"

Aaron rolled his eyes, "Really? I hadn't noticed."

The Republic soldiers snorted, "Well, someone doesn't wake up in a good mood, now come on we need to get to the bridge."

Aaron stubbornly shook his head, "If the Sith have invaded the ship then we need to get to the escape pods, besides how do I know I can trust you?"

The soldier blew air out of his mouth impatiently, "My name is Trask, I'm your bunkmate here, but we work opposite shifts kinda strange that we haven't bumped into each other before, but never mind Bastila needs everyone on the bridge."

Aaron sighed, from what he remembered from the scuttlebutt that he had heard Bastila was the commander of the _Endar Spire_ and a spoiled Jedi girl to boot, if she had gotten them into this mess it wasn't his job to save her from it.

He told Trask as much, which only made the Republic soldier sputter, "Are you crazy, you'll never make to the escape pods on this level, its already crawling with Sith Troopers from the advance boarding parties, the only ones we still hold are on the bridge level, if we work together maybe then we can get there, lets go." Trask ran over to the door and began to fiddle with the lock.

Aaron walked over to his footlocker and got dressed with the speed of veteran explorer who was used to having to move fast, pulling on his gray light pants, white shirt, and red jacket. Lastly he check his personal blaster pistol, slipped it into his holster on his right thigh and strapped the standard issue Republic short sword to his left hip as Trask succeeded in opening the door.

Noticing Aaron's questioning look Trask grimaced, "The Sith have activated the emergency lockdown systems, every door on the ship is going to need to be hacked or blasted open, luckily I had the code for this door, but the others will be trickier."

Aaron shrugged, "A few locked doors have never stopped me before, and I don't expect them to start now."

Trask nodded and started down the small hallway that lead to the rest of the ship when the ship's intercom crackled to life, "This is Carth Onasi, the Sith have boarded the vessel and are advancing on the bridge, we can't hold them for much longer. All hands to the bridge!"

The blonde Republic soldier gulped slightly, "That was Carth Onasi, if he thinks things are bad you'd better believe it, he's one of the most decorated heroes in the Republic, we need to keep going, we can join up with Private Jones, he came with me to get you, and then head for the bridge."

Aaron nodded and followed Trask to the other door, which was locked down. Trask started to work on it when Aaron gave him a shove, "Oh move, I eat Republic locks for breakfast." Aaron reached into the door lock that Trask had exposed and after crossing two wires the door opened suddenly.

Waiting for them was another soldier holding a blaster rifle as he watched the hallway. Aaron glanced at the young man, "So you would be Private Jones?"

The Republic soldier nodded, he started to reply, but whatever he was going to say became a scream as two ruby blaster bolts hit the unlucky soldier, he fell like a lifeless rag doll as two Sith Troopers stepped into the clearing near the end of the hallway.

Trask was at Private Jones' side instantly, "Damn it, rest well Jones." He grabbed the fallen soldier's blaster rifle and growled slightly, "These Sith must be part of the advance boarding party; for the Republic!" With that Trask charged the Sith Trooper unleashing a volley of blaster bolts on them.

Aaron sighed and drew his sword and followed Trask, if to only keep the Republic soldier from getting himself killed.

Trask charged straight at the Sith, ducking and dodging their fire as he steadily returned their fire, however, his fire was just as inaccurate as the soldier was more concerned with avoiding being hit than doing any hitting at the moment.

With the practiced motion resulting in years of training and testing of his skills in fights Aaron switched his sword to his left hand and drew his blaster pistol; he snapped off a trio of quick shots that connected with the left Sith Trooper in the belly, throat, and face in quick succession. The remaining Trooper fired again and managed to hit Trask in the flank, making the blonde man fall with a grunt.

Aaron, however, was on him in an instant, he placed his blaster in its holster again and using a backhand motion knocked the Sith's blaster carbine from his hands as he charged past him.

The Trooper grabbed his own melee weapon, a simple vibroblade, and followed in his attacker's wake as Aaron shifted his sword back to his right hand just as the Trooper engaged his blade.

Aaron blocked the Trooper's first attack, parrying the humming blade away while he snapped his left leg out and hit the silver armored soldier in the chest; the Sith staggered backwards, the wind knocked out of him. With a confident grin Aaron spun his blade in front of him as he advanced, creating a whirling sound as the Sith brought his blade up to defend himself.

Whatever the Sith did it did nothing to stop the blaster bolt that Trask fired into his back. Before the crack of the shot had faded the unlucky Trooper fell to the ground as a wounded Trask struggled to his feet.

Aaron gave Trask a sour look, "Well, I'm glad to see that you can hold yourself in a fight, otherwise this is going to take a real long time."

Trask gave Aaron and equally cool look, "Yea right, now I understand what everyone has been saying about you with you exploring the outer reaches of space, seeing planets that most people haven't even heard of, and that you sure know how to handle your blade."

Aaron looked and the charred wound that Trask was struggling to bandage, "Are you too hurt to move?"

Trask shook his head, "Nope, once I've bandaged this I'll use one of our Medpacs to jumpstart the healing process, then we can keep going."

Aaron nodded, "Good I don't want you slowly me down."

Trask shook his head, "No wonder Bastila handpicked you for this mission, your as cold and heartless as any Sith out there, who better to fight them than someone who thinks like them?"

Aaron gave the Republic soldier a wicked look, "That's where you're almost right, you see I maybe a cold hearted son of a bitch, but unlike these Sith I can think and I can't stand those who don't." Aaron grinned, "That is what makes me not to favorable of the average grunt, be them Republic or Sith."

Trask's brow furrowed, clearly holding back his annoyance, "Well, until we catch up with everyone else, I guess you'll just have to put up with me."

Aaron nodded and without another word both men headed into the battle that was raging around the entire ship and inside it as well.

As Aaron and Trask fought their way through the corridors of the _Spire_ they came across several other groups of Sith watching the halls for more Republic personal, until they reach the main access corridor that lead to the bridge, where two large groups of Republic soldier and Sith Troopers where battling it out. As Aaron and Trask entered the corridor a Sith Trooper threw a frag grenade at the largest concentration of Republic soldiers, while another one of their fellows cut down another Republic soldier with his vibroblade. Within moments every Republic soldier was down with the Sith holding the only way to the bridge.

Aaron glanced around the corner and counted three Sith Troopers standing by a few bolt riddled crates as they watched the rest of the access corridor with their weapons ready.

Glancing over the blaster burnt corridors, Aaron quickly began to formulate a plan. Then Trask rushed past him, with his blaster firing as fast as the Republic grunt could fire.

The Sith Troopers started spraying blaster fire over the hallway and would have brunt Trask where he stood if the man hadn't ducked behind a crate for cover as the hot blaster fire filled the air.

Biting back one of the more potent swear words he had pick up in his travels Aaron quickly began to changes his plans. He spotted a frag grenade sitting on the belt of a fallen Republic soldiers and without much thought he pitched himself forward into a roll.

As he completed his roll Aaron felt his hand close around the destructive device, his thumb found the arming switch and he gave it a toss as the wall stopped his roll.

The grenade landed in the middle of the Sith position and in a flash of fire and smoke the firing from behind the crates abruptly ceased. A relative calm settled over the corridor, with only the background noises of explosions hammering the _Endar Spire_.

Aaron rose to his feet and searched the other Republic and Sith bodies laying around the corridor, when another pair of Sith Troopers came running from the corridor that the first Sith had been defending.

Their scarlet blasts flew toward Aaron as he dove to the side; he rolled up to one knee and threw his short sword with all his strength, driving the blade deep into the left Trooper's helmet. Aaron's blaster filled his hand and he snapped a pair of shots that hit low, shooting up sparks that made the Trooper duck his head and dive for cover behind the charred remains of a crate.

Behind Aaron, Trask started firing his blaster rifle, spraying red blaster fire over the hallway, forcing the Sith to choose between keeping his head down or having it blown off.

This distraction gave Aaron the time he needed to come around the Sith's flank, giving him a perfect shot; the Trooper started to move to fire on Aaron, when a burst from Trask blew the top of his head off.

Aaron glanced back to Trask where the Republic soldier was jogging up to join him. Aaron found his sword and after pulling it free from the Sith's head he searched the remaining bodies and then moved down to the end of the corridor where the Sith had been coming from.

Unfortunately all that remained was a pile of parts that the Sith had gathered from sabotaging various systems on the _Spire_, but never one to waste, Aaron stuffed the usable parts into his pocket and then followed Trask to the door leading to the bridge.

The scarred door opened with a groan revealing a lone figure wearing a chest plate of silver armor and a black robe.

Beside him Trask stopped short, "It's a Dark Jedi, he must be keeping the Republic forces from the bridge. We'll have to take-"

Trask's words were cut short by the sound of the Dark Jedi activating his lightsaber and spinning to block a slash from the blue blade of another Jedi that emerged from another room.

Aaron smiled and took s slight step forward, but Trask was on him in instant, grabbing his arm and holding him back, "Are you crazy? That's a _Dark Jedi_, this fight is too much for us, all we'd do is get in the way."

Aaron pulled himself free of the soldier's grip and was about to ignore his warning, when a blaster bolt flew past his shoulder, charring the hallway belong him.

Trask and Aaron spun to see four more Sith Troopers charging toward them, their rifles held ready, already starting to fire deadly ruby bolts of energy at them.

Trask immediately started returning their fire and even managed to drop one Sith, before he had to dive for cover or be filled with holes, but even so while he was using the body of a fallen Republic soldier as cover, Trask still fired the occasional shot to keep the Sith's heads down.

Aaron, using Trask's distraction to his own advantage charged forward in a zigzag path to throw off his enemies' aim. He grabbed his blaster pistol and fired a pair of quick shots that hit the center Trooper in the knee and thigh, but not taking any fight out of him; the other two Troopers, split their attention between Aaron and Trask firing with a steady rhythm that started to make the air thick with deadly energy.

One shot grazed Aaron's calf bringing a snarl to his face as he rolled forward before he could fire at the Sith who'd shot him. When he came out of the roll his blaster came up and he fired at the foolish Trooper, with only two meters of air separating Aaron's blaster from the Sith's chest. The Trooper fell like a rag doll, as Aaron sidestepped him to reach the remaining the two Troopers.

The Sith that Aaron had wounded before fired a burst at Aaron, his ruby bolts stitching through the air toward him. In desperation Aaron threw himself forward, trying to jump over the attack; he even partially succeed, which saved his life.

The first three bolts flew beneath him, scarring the wall behind Aaron with neat black holes, but the last one caught him in the thigh. Aaron bit back a scream as he hit the ground, his momentum dragging the blaster wound across that deck, leaving a smear of blood behind him.

However, that momentum also brought the immobilized Sith within the striking range of Aaron sword.

The metal blade bit into the Trooper's neck, sending a spray of blood into the air as Aaron pulled his blade free and stabbed the Sith again in the belly.

The mortally wounded Sith fell to the deck, writhing in the screams of his final moments as Aaron rolled to dodge the fire from the remaining Sith. But, as the first trio of blaster bolts hit the deck to his right, Aaron felt his wound clamp up and the pain from it became so severe that it was all he could do not to scream again, let alone try and move.

Time moved with surprising slowness and clarity as Aaron watched the Sith's rifle barrel turn to face him, he saw the flash that accompanied a blaster shot, then the sound of the shot reached his ears.

Aaron's mind raced, as nanoseconds ticked by it what seemed minutes as he searched for where he had made his mistake and what he could do to stop it. As he reached into his mind his leg flared again, breaking his concentration, Aaron tightened his jaw and focused his anger on his leg; if only his leg hadn't hung down, but had moved like the rest of him he wouldn't be about to die.

As ridiculous as it sounded, it was the rationalized of a man who knew he was going to die and in that moment when his anger and pain came to a focus as he looked up at the faceless mask of the Sith Trooper.

Suddenly time went from slow to fast in a heart beat as the Sith's blaster rifle was somehow twisted and collapsed around the Trooper's hand, the man began to scream, but it was cut short when the rifle's energy pack exploded. The flash of energy released all of the power that the rifle could have release over time in one sudden burst, the simple shock wave disintegrated the Trooper's hand and most of his arm, while blowing the rest of the now lifeless Trooper across the hall and throwing him against the wall.

Aaron stared in shock and surprise and the mangled and life corpse, even more impressive was that even though the blaster had been crushed and became a bomb the entire force of the blast had backfired, sparing Aaron any harm.

Trask ran to Aaron's side and stuck the wounded man with a Medpac and his wrapped the leg wound with some bandages, "Whoa, that Jedi stuff sure is crazy isn't; if that Jedi is still alive you'll have to thank her for helping you like that."

Aaron gave the Republic a puzzled look, "What are you talking about?"

Trask rolled his eyes, "Come on, do you think that blaster rifles randomly collapse and explode like that, what else but the Force could it have been?" Trask grabbed his partner's shoulders and pulled him to his feet, "Let's hurry up and get to the bridge."

Aaron gingerly put weight on his wounded leg and was pleased to see that the kolto in the Medpac was already working, after a few careful steps to make sure that it would hold Aaron jogged after Trask to where the two Jedi had been fighting.

As that two approached both Jedi were looking ragged and tired, with minor cuts covering their torsos and arms; as the two men watched on the Jedi Knight went on the offensive, battering the Dark Jedi's defenses aside and cutting him down.

Trask thumped Aaron on the shoulder triumphantly as they moved to greet the Jedi, when all hell broke lose.

If the three people in the hallway had been outside the _Endar Spire_ just then they would have seen a pair of Sith Fighters strafe the neck on the old Cruiser, pealing back the already damaged armor plating, as a third fighter released a torpedo that slammed into the unarmored hull.

In the hallway the impact of the torpedo caused destruction that made the Sith Trooper's blaster rifle look like a fire cracker. The roof collapsed and the wall on the right side started to cave in under the force of the explosion, the lights went out along the entire corridor, with only the sparking of loose wires to illuminate the hallway.

Just before the torpedo had hit another explosion, somewhere to the after of the ship, had rippled through the ship, knocking Aaron and Trask to their feet and thus saving their lives.

The Jedi Knight was not as fortunate, the collapsing roof fell down on the Jedi pinning her in place as part of the torpedo's deadly force blew needle sized pieces of metal at her like a maelstrom.

When the lights came back on, she looked as if she had contracted a case of the chickenpox, except her spots bled slowly.

Trask crept over to the Jedi body and check her for any life signs, when he stood he shook his head, "That was one of the Jedi accompanying Bastila, we sure could have used her help." Trask looked over the wreckage to the door leading to the bridge, "There's the bridge lets go."

Aaron pulled himself to his feet and glanced at the dead Jedi before he jogged after Trask with his mind racing, _You could save me from the end of the hallway but you couldn't save yourself? How could you Jedi have survived from so long with learning how to do that?_

Aaron reached Trask's side just as the Republic soldier cleared the security and started to ready his own short sword, "The bridge will be close quarters, using blasters will be suicide."

Aaron nodded silently and slid his blaster pistol into its holster and held his sword ready, "Then let's stop talking and get in there."

Trask nodded and punched the door pad, with the groan of tired hydraulics the door opened to reveal the bridge of the _Endar Spire_ with blaster marks and destroyed consoles everywhere. Near the front of the bridge two of Republic soldiers were fighting to keep three Sith Troopers away from the main computer in the front of the bridge, while two more waited by the door where Aaron and Trask entered.

The Trooper on the left noticed the door first and spun to bring his blaster to bear on the two men entering the bridge, while he called out to his comrade.

Aaron reacted first, swinging his blade up and colliding with the Trooper's Blaster Rifle's barrel and cutting it off near the base. Seconds later the Trooper, unaware of the fatal damage to his weapon, pulled the trigger as it aimed itself at Aaron's chest. The resulting explosion shattered the Trooper's arm all the way up to his elbow before the shockwave threw him back into the glass screen of one of the tactical maps, which shattered and rained over the deck in little shards.

The second Trooper dropped his blaster rifle and drew a vibroblade from its side sheath as he charged Aaron's exposed side, his blade lowered and ready to stick Aaron through his side.

Or he would have had if Trask hadn't existed, instead Trask and his short sword were quite real and the blade's sharp edge appeared along his side and cut through the armor protecting his stomach, bringing him to the ground quickly as Aaron spun around to block the threat that was no longer present.

Aaron nodded his thanks to Trask as another explosion ripped through the bridge of the battered Cruiser from the main computer at the front of the bridge; the resulting explosion sent an unchecked electrical current through the Republic and Sith soldiers battling around it.

When the sounds of the explosions quieted, the two survivors on the bridge took a slight breath against the sweet and sour stench of burnt flesh as they checked the rest of the bridge.

Trask checked one of the few surviving computer panels and thrust his fist into the air triumphantly, "Bastila's already escaped the _Spire_, her escape pod has already left, those Sith won't find it easy to find Bastila on a planet as heavily populated as Taris."

Aaron smiled at first then his face darkened, "That's just great Trask, if Bastila was only thing they wanted on this ship there is nothing to stop them from turning the _Spire_ and us into a mini black hole once they realize that she's gone."

Trask dropped his fist, "You're right we need to get of this ship now."

Aaron sighed, "You have such a talent for seeing ways out of situations like this."

Trask snorted and ran over to a door on the right side of the bridge and punched in a security code, "Well then keep going."

Aaron jogged after the Republic soldier as they made their way to the starboard wing escape pod section.

They finally reached the starboard wing emergency station, where supplies and equipment were kept for soldiers using the escape pods. Unfortunately everything had already been taken, either by the Sith of Republic soldiers, leaving only the long corridor leading to the escape pods for the two weary men.

Trask leaned against a crate and took a breath while Aaron started working on the door lock that lead to the escape pods, when a tapping came from the door opposite to the one they had just entered.

Trask walked over to the door and frowned as the tapping continued, "Aaron, there's someone behind here," Trask raised his voice, "Hang on in there we'll get you out!" Trask glanced down at the door panel, which looked as if it had been shot by a blaster shot at close range. With a slightly irritated grunt Trask crouched down to try and repair the damage to open the door while Aaron continued to work at the persistent security the Sith had set up to block access to the Republic Cruiser's escape pods.

Trask rubbed a couple wires clean and twisted them together, with a spark the doors opened, bringing a smile from Trask. However, that smile quickly disappeared as Trask saw who he had let into the room.

Standing their with a jet black breastplate and even darker robes holding a double bladed lightsaber humming in his hand, coloring the hallway with blood red highlights.

Trask jumped back from the door and grabbed his short sword, "Damn! It's another Dark Jedi," Trask looked over as Aaron finally opened the door to the escape pods, "I'll try to hold him off, this is my fault, you get to the escape pods." Trask tightened his grip on his sword and charged forward.

Aaron stood in shock as Trask forced the Dark Jedi back into corridor, fighting brilliantly to hold him back, until Trask called out to him again, "Go already! I can't hold him back forever! Go damn you!"

Trask's last statement was cut off as the repair Trask had made broke down again, closing the door behind him.

Aaron snarled, "Trask you damn fool." Before he ran through the door he had opened and jammed it closed once he was on the other side. _It won't stop that bastard for long though, but what would?_ Aaron glanced around him and pulled two frag grenades from his belt, setting them up to detonate by remote and lodged them in the door's opening mechanism. He ran back to take cover and pressed the detonator.

The resulting explosion ripped through the door and left the door locked in place. With a satisfied smile Aaron rose as his comlink went off.

Aaron grabbed it from his belt, "Aaron Star here."

A clearly male voice, though eaten by static came through the small speaker, "This is Carth Onasi, I'm tracking your progress through the _Endar Spire_'s life support system you're the last surviving crewmember on the _Spire_ get to the escape pods so we can get out of here. Oh you should be careful there are a swarm of Sith Troopers in you path, be careful. Carth Onasi out"

Aaron snorted as he put his comlink away, "Thanks for the tip Carth." He leaned around the corner at the end of the hall and saw a lone Sith Trooper standing down of the end, with his blaster rifle hanging at his side.

Aaron pressed himself flat against the hallway and pulled his blaster pistol free, after setting the sites for long-range leaned around the corner slowly.

The Trooper never even noticed him as Aaron brought his blaster up and only when the ruby bolt was flying toward his chest did he even realize the mortal danger he was in, but by then he was too late and the only movement he made was collapsing to the deck from the hole he now had in his chest.

Aaron set his blaster's sites back to normal and came around the corner, with his blaster pistol held ready and his short sword held in a reverse grip trailing behind him as he moved forward in the same type of crouch he would have used in the brush of an untamed planet in the Outer Rim, only the predators on the _Spire_ were a bit more dangerous than the normal creature he would run into in his travels.

Aaron made his way through long corridors until he reached another door locked by a Sith security system. Carefully he hacked his way into the system and with laughable ease the door opened, where two unsuspecting Sith Troopers, one with his helmet sitting on a nearby table, looked up in surprise as a dirty man with a blaster pistol and short sword in his hands charged into the room.

Aaron opening shot took advantage of the lack of protection on the Trooper with his helmet off, the single shot erased the man's face completely as his face proved less able to stop a blaster bolt than his discarded helmet. He partner turned and was ready to fire, but Aaron lashed out with his backhand and drew the edge of his reversed gripped sword across the Trooper's throat.

A silence only interrupted by the battle outside the Cruiser's hull again fell over the room, until Aaron's comlink crackle to life again, "Its Carth, there's and entire squad of Sith Troopers in the next room, they've been trying to hack into the escape pod room and keep everyone from the escape pods as well. I locked down both doors so they're trapped, but I can't get there to help you. You'll have to some how kill them without actually fighting them, only if the threat level in the room in reduce to zero will the lock down end. You could either overload the power conduit in the room or reactivate the battle droid that they shut down in the same room as you, but whatever you're doing do it fast, the_ Endar Spire_ can't take much more punishment."

Aaron placed both his weapons in their sheaths and quickly searched the room for the supplies he's need to get through the door, his search yielded several computer spikes and a handful of spare parts.

Aaron checked over the battle droid first, but as he was trying to get the final part to fit into its blaster he overloaded the energy pack, rendering the weapon useless. With an exasperate sigh Aaron activated the droid's hand-to-hand programming and set its power core to detonate if it took critical damage, before he completed its patrol program and let in enter into the room.

As the droid marched in Aaron moved to the computer panel in the room and accessed the room's camera system to watch his handy work.

The Sith squad was waiting for one of their number to hack through the door to the escape pods where Carth was waiting when the droid marched in the room. The nearest Trooper fell under the wilting crunch of the droid's punch and it was halfway to the next Trooper before they had even returned fire. The droid cut down another Trooper before their fire burnt out its shield, then it took a hit to the head and its power core exploded.

The fireball filled the room and the camera that Aaron was watching from became static. Aaron looked up from the panel as the door opened up, black smoke pouring out of the room. Aaron coughed, blinking back tears from the smoke as he made his way to ground zero, where the droid had been standing.

Any Trooper within five meters of the droid had been vaporized instantly, leaving only the first Trooper to fall to the droid's attacks and the Sith commander in his stronger red armor stuck against the wall by the force of the explosion.

Aaron scanned over the room looking for anything usable, though not expecting much, but surprisingly he found a Echani-made vibroblade behind the Sith commander's corpse, where his body had shielded it from the explosion.

Aaron smiled as he felt the vibroblade's excellent balance in his hand before he replaced it in his sheath and kept his old blade in his hand and he opened the door to the escape pod launch bay.

When the door opened Aaron stepped in cautiously and nearly attacked Carth out of reflex when he appeared from behind a barricade of crates he had stacked to provide some cover, before Aaron spoke he looked over how Carth had positioned himself in the launch bay. He had erected the crated to force anyone attacking him to come from only on way in order to get a clean shot at him, but in the process that would give Carth all the time in the world to cut them down with the double blaster pistols he wore on his side.

Carth climber over the crates and stuck his hand out, "You made just in time, there is only one escape pod left, we need to get off this ship while we still can."

Aaron shock his hand, "Well I see no reason to wait, either the Sith are going to blow this ship apart of she'll fall apart on her own; either way I don't want to be here when it happens."

Carth nodded, "I agree completely."

Just then a blaster bolt hit the crates beside Carth as another squad of Sith Troopers came charging toward them. Carth pulled his pistols free and calmly began firing into their formation, dropping Sith Troopers with what seemed like every shot.

Aaron nodded, yes Carth would have made the Sith pay dearly to try and take him out; still not to be out done Aaron pulled his blaster out and added to Carth's fire, as he took a bead on another Trooper Carth paused long enough to give him a push, "Stop wasting time, get the escape pod ready to we can get out of here, we'll run out of shots before they run out of men."

Aaron nodded and opened the hatch to the escape pod as Carth returned to his steady firing, but by the sound of it more Sith were coming and they were getting closer.

Aaron started running the pod through its start-up procedures and was nearly ready when Carth jumped in, "They brought up a tri-pod blaster cannon, its time to go!" He turned and slammed the hatch closed and locked it down as he slapped Aaron shoulder, "Go!"

Aaron threw Carth a mock salute and hit the release button, firing the pod from the Cruiser's flaming hull like a bullet from a gun.

Carth pulled himself into the seat along side Aaron as the scout read off the counter, "Eight hundred meters to minimum safe distance; six hundred to Taris atmosphere."

Both men sat still as their pod began to shake from the thickening of the atmosphere around them until the ship they had served on behind them blew up.

The shock wave hit the pod and only fast work with the braking thrusters kept it from going into a tumble that would have made it burn up in the upper atmosphere of Taris; instead it accelerated beyond anything the braking thrusters could stop and ripped through the air like a knife.

In his seat Aaron watched the altitude meter on the pod count down slowly, five hundred meters, four hundred, three hundred, two hundred, one hundred, fifty…


End file.
